One Community Home Shares

Home Shares are how One Community’s 7 sustainable village models will be owned by residents within One Community. We discuss these Home Shares with the following sections:

• What are Home Shares
• Why Use and Open Source Home Shares
• One Community Home Share Details
  • Home Shares and Phase 1 Construction
  • Home Shares in Layman’s Terms
  • Home Shares and Housing Upgrades
  • Home Share Rollout Details
• Home Shares Legal Structure
  • Definition of Home Shares
  • When Does a Person Earn a Home Share
  • Home Share Limitations
  • Home Share Sale
  • Home Shares and Rental Revenue
  • Home Share Structure Amendments
• Resources
• Summary
• FAQ

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WHAT ARE HOME SHARES

One Community Home Shares are the fairest and most sustainable, mutually beneficial, and resilient model we’ve come up with for people to own a home within One Community. We consider them fair because each Share is equal to exactly the number of hours a home takes to build. When an individual has invested that amount of time in the construction process at One Community, they earn that Home Share. They are sustainable because they are adjustable based on the home they represent and managed and modifiable through consensus.

Home Shares are mutually beneficial for individuals and One Community because the longer a person is with One Community, and the more hours a person invests in construction with One Community, the more hours they have to invest in a better Home Share and upgrade their current residence. Home Shares are resilient because they support the global transformation goals of One Community while maximally benefiting those who help most constructing the 7 sustainable village models. They also provide people the flexibility to leave One Community and either sell their Home Shares or keep them as a revenue generating option.

WHY USE AND OPEN SOURCE HOME SHARES

With 7 planned sustainable villages to be built, we needed a home ownership model that would allow for those who wanted to change their homes to be able to easily (and fairly) do so as new options became available. Home Shares were ultimately chosen because we saw them as the most fair, flexible, and transferrable option for residents of One Community. Home Shares also provide major liability benefits for both One Community and individual owners.

SENIORITY AND FAIRNESS CONSIDERATIONS

We wanted a way to give preferential treatment to those who put in the most time helping build and maintain One Community. It was important to us to only do this though while also allowing someone new to One Community to have equally diverse Home Share options. Seniority should have its benefits but someone brand new should be able to still earn a Home Share equal to someone who has been with One Community from day one. The Home Share structure here addresses this.

LIABILITY CONSIDERATIONS

Liability was another concern. Home Shares help protect residents of One Community in the event of legal action against One Community as a whole. They additionally reduce the potential for frivolous lawsuits from a potentially disgruntled home owner. We accomplish this by:

• All physical property falling under the insurance umbrella of One Community
• All physical property being managed equally and fairly by all of One Community’s residents using the consensus process
• Maintaining the separation of Home Shares from actual property so that these shares can be transferred, combined, sold, or used to change their homes if a resident or One Community consensus desires it

GLOBAL CHANGE CONSIDERATIONS

Structuring this as we have, sharing it, and collaboratively evolving it through the consensus process is also directly in support of our positive and permanent global transformation goals using open source and self-replicating teacher/demonstration hubs. This is directly in alignment with our Purpose and Mission, our Global-transformation Pledge, and Highest Good philosophy for open source creation, sharing, and making a difference in the world.

Self-replicating Solutions can Create a Sustainable World – Click for One Community’s Self-replicating Solutions Page

ONE COMMUNITY HOME SHARE DETAILS

One Community Home Shares were created with the goals and criteria of being fair, sustainable, mutually beneficial for individuals and One Community, to support the global transformation goals of One Community, and maximally benefit those who help most in constructing the 7 sustainable village models and other One Community infrastructure components. We discuss these details and more with the following sections:

• Home Shares and Phase 1 Construction
• Home Shares in Layman’s Terms
• Home Share Rollout Details
• Home Share Legal Structure

HOME SHARES AND PHASE 1 CONSTRUCTION

Home Shares at One Community provide an equity and revenue-building opportunity. And anyone involved with One Community for more than 24 months on the property can earn a Home Share. Here is the first village we will be building and providing Home Shares for:

Semi-subterranean Earthbag Village with Central Tropical Atrium Themes: Maximum Durability and Affordability / Red Accents 60 Resident Units / 12 Visitor Units / 1 Common Area

At the same time, we will be building the One Community food infrastructure, energy infrastructure, and the Duplicable City Center. The Duplicable City Center structure will provide large-scale recreational space, laundry, a kitchen capable of feeding 200+ people at a time, a natural swimming pool and hot tub, and more:

Duplicable City Center | Village Community Center & Eco-tourism Hub Themes: Eco-tourism and Social & Recreational Space 12 Visitor Units / 11 Common Areas

One Community will build these Phase-1 structures and using Home Shares because we expect them to:

• Grow and become more valuable for every hour contributed to the construction of the Duplicable City Center and 7 villages
• Provide move-in-first incentives for those interested in living in the first and most basic (“Base Unit”) Earthbag Village structures
• Provide a fair structure for those wanting to build more complex and customized (“Expanded Unit”) Earthbag Village home designs
• Reward those who invest the most time in helping build One Community with additional credits towards later villages
• Maintain a fair structure so new people can join One Community and also be able to earn a Home Share and move into an existing Earthbag Village home or one of the homes in the later villages

HOME SHARES IN LAYMAN’S TERMS

In layman’s terms, Home Shares are created by identifying the construction time and costs for a “Base Unit” and using this as the “standard home” that One Community will pay for and help residents construct for themselves. Every time we complete a new home, we create a new Home Share. Each new Home Share represents that home and the total time invested in constructing it. An individual can then earn and own that Home Share once they have completed One Community construction hours equal to its construction-hours equivalent. Once earned, the person who owns a Home Share can live in it, sell it, trade it, or upgrade it by completing and adding additional construction hours to it. The more construction hours a person has, the higher value of a Home Share they will qualify for. And whomever has the most construction hours gets priority when assigning new Home Shares.

BENEFITS OF THIS FOR THE INDIVIDUAL

• Freedom and ease of residence upgrade(s) if desired
• Seniority for those who have been around the longest and/or helped build the most
• It will be easier for us to cover all homes with One Community’s insurance
• Flexibility for families to combine hours for a new shared Home Share home or to keep one Home Share as part of One Community’s rental options and upgrade their other Home Share to live in
• Individuals who are at One Community long enough could also have the potential to accumulate enough hours to have their own home plus a rental

BENEFITS OF THIS FOR ONE COMMUNITY

• Provides win-win for people to contribute additional construction hours
• Provides win-win for people to transfer their custom home shares to newer structures
• Easy system for residence upgrade(s) and/or sale(s) for those residents who desire them
• Makes all of One Community easier to manage and evolve through consensus decision making

BENEFITS OF THIS FOR NEW MEMBERS

• Someone can join at any time and start accumulating hours towards a home
• A person with accumulated construction hours can use them to:
  • Move into any home they qualify for (seniority still applies)
  • Move into any home One Community owns the Home Shares for

HOME SHARES & HOUSING UPGRADES

There are two different ways housing upgrades will happen at One Community. The first will be “Expanded Units” as part of the Earthbag Village. After that will be upgrade options for moving into one of the six later villages. People earn their initial Home Share by completing construction hours equal to its value. People can then upgrade an existing Home Share by adding additional construction hours to it and transfer the Home Share to any new structure of equal or lesser Home-Share-hours value.

UPGRADING HOME SHARES WITH AN EXPANDED UNIT

An “Expanded Unit” is a home designed to be more elaborate than the Base Units within the Earthbag Village. Individuals pay the additional costs and contribute the additional construction hours needed to build these units. We’re developing templates for these units that will function as a guideline. This guideline will demonstrate the maximum additional construction labor and costs allowable for these Expanded Units. People desiring something different can then use the Expanded Unit templates as a guide for their own expansions and creations. This is an option so long as they:

• Stay within the guidelines and contribute the hours and funding needed to construct their designs
• Or get approval through consensus to do something different

UPGRADING HOME SHARES TO A HOME IN A NEW VILLAGE

Home Shares also allow for upgrade options for moving into one of the six later villages. These later villages will be more expensive and elaborate and the Home Share values associated with them will be based on this and decided by consensus. The construction hours a person has contributed at One Community will count towards ownership of one of these later-village Home Shares. If a person already owns a Home Share, they can add additional construction hours to it. The person can then use their current Home Share value plus these additional hours to exchange for a Home Share in later villages.

This will give preferential treatment to those who have been a part of One Community the longest and contributed the most. A person contributing hours to a custom (Expanded Unit) home will also get to include their hours in this. This is because those Expanded Unit Home Shares will become One Community’s when/if the individual transfers their Home Share to a new home.

Whoever has the most hours will get priority for Home Share exchanges. A person can also just opt to keep their current home if they like it more than the new ones being built.

Below is our intended development plan. Consensus will be used to evolve the details. We’ll do this as we’re completing construction of the Earthbag Village and Duplicable City Center.

One Community Master Plan – Click for the Highest Good Housing page with a click-to-enlarge version

HOME SHARE ROLLOUT DETAILS

This section discusses how residents will earn their Home Shares as we rollout construction of the initial homes. With this rollout plan we’ve focused on organizing construction as logically and code-compliant as possible. Keeping the Home Shares as fair as possible for members with seniority as well as new members was also important.

CONSTRUCTION ROLLOUT

The construction rollout will begin with the Earthbag Village (Pod 1), Duplicable City Center, energy, and food infrastructure. For a round community design like the Earthbag Village, it’s best to start construction in the center and work outward. This will mean building the Tropical Atrium, first ring of 3-home dome clusters that are built around the Tropical Atrium, the four Communal Eco-shower structures, two Net-zero Bathrooms, and two Vermiculture Toilet structures first. This is best for excavation, plumbing, and electrical design. It will also help us meet code requirements for having bathrooms and showers during the rest of the construction rollout. To accomplish all of this, everyone will have 20 weekly hours of construction time that will be divided between this task and construction of the Duplicable City Center, energy, and food infrastructure. See the Community Contribution and Time Allocation pages for additional work-hour contribution details.

ACCOUNTABILITY/HOURS-CREDITING ROLLOUT

A “Base Unit” Home Share will be earned by pre-existing Pioneers with at least 6 months non-property/pre-property experience and then 18 months on the property. New Members will also earn them after 24 months with the project, but with more accurate construction hours related to the Base Unit. So for new members, they will earn their Home Share having 24 months on the property and with a contribution of whichever is larger: 18 months with a minimum of 20 weekly hours of construction time (18 months x 4 weeks x 20 construction hours = 1,440 construction hours) OR the actual number of construction hours for the home which the Home Share will apply. Complete details for this can be found in the “Legal Structure” section below.

The choice to use whichever is larger of the above two numbers is to account for all the other One Community construction. Construction of this additional infrastructure will benefit all residents and these construction hours still count towards Home Share ownership by the individuals contributing them.

The people who earn their Home Shares first will be given first option to move into the Base Units. One Community will build only Base Units until every resident who desires a Home Share for those designs is living in one. We will then start construction of the Expanded Units (details below).

LOGGING HOURS TO CONSTRUCTION AND UPDATING BASE-UNIT AVERAGES

All hours will be logged using the Highest Good Network software with construction of every component logged/tracked separately. When the 18 single-dome residences of the central ring are complete around the Tropical Atrium, we’ll use those structures to update the 1,440-hours Standard Pod 1 Home Construction average to something more accurate. Estimated time to build a single dome is expected to be about 1,600 hours. Construction time of the furniture will also be included but has’t been calculated yet. Total construction time will predictably be less once we have the process down. Using machinery and/or going with aircrete will also reduce construction times. See our crowdfunding campaign outline for aircrete testing plans and details.

EXPANDED UNIT ROLLOUT

The first to earn their Home Shares will also be the first to move into a Base Unit. We will then start construction of the Expanded Units. Expanded Units will introduce changes to the Standard Pod 1 Home Designs. The following construction guidelines will apply to Expanded Units:

• Use one of the pre-approved designs
• Or get approval via consensus for a new design
• Individual pays for the additional materials
• Individual is willing to do the additional construction hours

Additional work required for these structures would be outside the usual 35-hour weekly work requirements. It could, however, be included as part of the weekly 5-hour “Highest Good society” contributions.

EXTRA FAIRNESS CONSIDERATIONS

Here are some additional fairness considerations. These considerations were added as incentives for moving into Base Units, to clarify what counts as construction hours, and to support those who may want an Expanded Unit but need One Community’s help paying for it.

• People wanting single domes will get their Home Shares first. This is so people happy with these simpler and easier to build domes will get a private residence to live in first
• Anything counting as “construction hours” must be approved by consensus
• Construction hour contributions should be equal for everyone. Any changes to this must be approved by consensus
• One Community may also cover a person’s costs for these different additions to the Base Unit structures if:
  • Agreed upon by consensus
  • The person agrees to contribute additional construction hours equal to the additional One Community costs. See “Monetary Value of Community Contribution” below for more on this
  • The person does not get to count their additional upgrade hours towards future Home Share upgrades

MONETARY VALUE OF COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTION

Being a part of One Community is meant to be a fun and rewarding lifestyle including community living, personal growth, and positive global change. For residents, it can also lead to Home Share ownership. This Home Share ownership will predictably increase in value:

• The longer someone is with One Community: The longer someone is with One Community, the more construction hours they add to their Home Share pool. This increases the individual’s seniority and makes them more eligible for Home Share upgrades.
• The more successful One Community is at being an amazing place to live: This increases Home Share resale value and earnings potential.

The above two points equal the monetary value of community contribution for residents. For non-residents, community contribution at One Community will have no monetary value. The same will apply for those who aren’t with One Community long enough to earn a Home Share. In both these cases, a person’s time contributed to working at One Community will instead be considered work exchange. The individual does this work in exchange for the skills learned, housing, food, recreation, and other benefits of being a part of One Community’s development and construction process.

Unless consensus decides otherwise, we will assume $15/hour though for those needing financial assistance for an Expanded Unit. You can read the “Extra Fairness Considerations” section above to learn more about financial assistance for Expanded Units.

HOME SHARES LEGAL STRUCTURE

A “Home Share” will be awarded to all members who complete sufficient construction hours on the property. We discuss these Home Share details and more with the following sections:

• Definition of Home Shares
• When Does a Person Earn a Home Share
• Home Share Limitations
• Home Share Sale
• Home Shares and Rental Revenue
• Home Share Structure Amendments

DEFINITION OF HOME SHARES

When One Community completes construction of a residence, a “Home Share” comes into existence. This Home Share represents the fixed costs of staying in a home at One Community and the hours it took to build that home. Owning the Home Share will represent guaranteed access to that dwelling within One Community. Home Shares will be sellable as described in “Home Shares Sales” below.

WHEN DOES A PERSON EARN A HOME SHARE

A person will earn a “Base Unit” (single-dome home) Home Share when they meet the following three criteria:

• Contribute at least six months volunteering as a Pioneer Member prior to moving onto the property.
• Contribute 18 months of living and contributing 40 weekly hours on the property.
• Completed their 18 months on the property within 2 consecutive years.

OR

• Once an individual has been a Member for at least 24 months of living and contributing 40 weekly hours on the property.
• Their personal construction hours equal whichever is larger:
  • The estimated Standard Pod 1 Home Construction average (1,440 hours) OR
  • The actual number of construction hours for the home which the Home Share will apply to

In both of the above cases, vacation or other time off the property does not count towards Home Share ownership.

An “Expanded Unit” Home Share or Home Share for one of the residences in the six later villages will be earned:

• With priority given to the person with the most construction hours
• Once an individual has completed the actual number of construction hours for the home which the Home Share will apply to

LIMITATIONS

Home Shares will provide access to dwellings paid for by One Community and built as described on the One Community website. A person desiring external and/or internal home-design changes can only do so with pre-approval. This pre-approval will be by consensus or a decision-making body chosen through consensus. A person must seek approval for changes desired both before or after construction.

Homeowners may modify the insides of their homes but not the common elements. Common elements are defined as those that are structural, publicly-visible, and/or related to the electrical system, structure itself, etc.

Financial responsibility for repairing intentional damage to the inside or outside of a Home Share home will be the sole responsibility of the resident.

Unless explicitly stated as a specifically-purposed variance at the time of move-in, the owner of a “Home Share” cannot be forced out of their specific unit unless they are found in violation of the community rules and asked to leave the community entirely. Thus, residents have the peace of mind to know that they can stay in their unit indefinitely as long as they remain in community compliance.

Death of a Home Share owner will force the sale of the Home Share. A person choosing to leave or being asked to leave will also force the sale of the Home Share.

HOME SHARE SALE

A Home Share sale can happen in any of the following situations:

• A person declaring in writing that they desire to sell their Home Share.
• A person declaring in writing that they are leaving without the intent to return.
• A consensus decision determining that a person has left without the intent to return.
• A consensus decision determining a person must leave.
• Death of a person without a will passing their Home Share to another qualified owner.
• Death of a person with a will passing their Home Share to a non-qualified owner.

A person and/or One Community will determine the value of a Home Share in one of two ways:

1. By taking the average of the last three homes of similar design sold OR
2. By getting an appraisal.

Appraisal can happen three ways. They can happen with a new appraisal, using the appraised value of an agreed upon similar home, or the average appraisal of two similar homes. In cases where a new appraisal is needed, One Community will choose the appraiser. The homeowner and One Community will equally share the cost for the appraisal.

People must meet the most current One Community criteria for residents if they want to buy a Home Share. One Community has first right of refusal for all Home Shares placed for sale. One Community Pioneer members have second right of refusal.

HOME SHARES AND RENTAL REVENUE

One Community members will also have the option to earn revenue by vacating their home. The person earns revenue this way by temporarily transferring their Home Share into the general rental pool. One Community will then rent the room for the member if:

• More than 80% of the One Community owned rentals are full or
• One Community determines a need

One Community will reassess the above percentage annually. This is to maintain fairness for Home Share owners while also continuing to provide for One Community’s needs.

One Community will have the right to add Home Share homes left vacant for more than 3 weeks to the general rental pool. Storage will be provided for personal items. Needed repairs or replacements due to Home Share rental will be the financial responsibility of One Community.

Rental revenue can also come from Home Shares. This rental revenue will be equal to 75% of the rental income of the specific home rented after subtracting the community agreed upon variable non-housing costs of maintaining One Community. To calculate this, One Community divides rental income into housing and non-housing. Seventy-five percent (75%) of whatever the housing portion is will go to the Home Share Owner as revenue. The remaining 25% of the housing portion will go to One Community as revenue. The non-housing portion will go to One Community to compensate One Community for the variable costs of renting.

Home Owners can also opt for private rental at the current rental rates. Revenue from these private rentals would be 60% to the renter and 40% to One Community.

People wishing to rent for longer than 4 weeks must meet the same criteria for One Community residents.

AMENDMENTS TO THIS OUTLINE

Note that the laws of the state we will be building in may require we make amendments to this agreement. It can also be changed through the consensus process.

RESOURCES

The following are the resources we think are most relevant to this page:

• One Community resource: How to Get Involved
• One Community resource: Community Membership
• One Community resource: Fulfilled Living
• One Community resource: Highest Good Housing
• One Community resource: Self-replicating Communities
• One Community resource: Creating for The Highest Good of All
• One Community resource: Evolving Sustainability
• One Community resource: Open Source Everything
• One Community resource: Transformational Global Change
• If you’d like to suggest a resource to be added here, use this page (click here)

SUMMARY

One Community Home Shares are the fairest and most sustainable model we’ve come up with for people to own a home at One Community. Each new Home Share represents a newly-created home and the total time invested in constructing it. An individual can then earn and own that Home Share once they have completed One Community construction hours equal to its construction-hours equivalent. Once earned, the person who owns a Home Share can live in it, sell it, trade it, or upgrade it by completing and adding additional construction hours to it. Whomever has the most construction hours gets priority when assigning new Home Shares.

FREQUENTLY ANSWERED QUESTIONS

Q: What kind of housing are you building first?

Phase I housing infrastructure is the Duplicable City Center and Earthbag Village (Pod 1).

Q: Can someone just buy a home? 

So it is fair for all residents, there will be no sale of homes outside of the Home Share structure.

Q: Where can I learn more about the various participation options?

Please see our How to Help One Community overview page.

Q: Where can I read the simplest explanation and overview of what One Community is creating?

Please read our Overview page.

Q: Where is the property located?

Click here for the property details page.

Q: How much does it cost to join One Community?

It does not cost anything to join One Community.

Q: How does One Community intend to financially support itself?

Please see our revenue streams page.

Q: I have financial debt, can One Community help me?

Please see this page: The Importance of Financial Stability for One Community Pioneers and Our Global Goals

Q: I am currently not a US resident, can I become a One Community member?

Please see this page: One Community International Applicants Page

Q: How do Home Shares apply with couples?

Each individual can earn a Home Share. This means two possible Home Shared for couples and the additional Home Share can then be sold, used for a guest house or separate-but-adjacent structure for a child, or rented as described in the “Rental Revenue” section above. Couples can also combine their construction hours to earn a Home Share sooner.

Q: I’m not ready now but I’d like to follow your progress. How do I do that?

Click the icons below to access the related social media account for One Community: